It is generally useful to provide an electronic means to modulate the intensity of optical radiation. Applications of such modulators include spatial light modulators, optical displays, and the like. Example light modulators include liquid crystal, electrochromic, electromechanical, Bragg, and others. Liquid crystal modulators rely on rotating the plane of polarization to modulate light. More specifically, a fixed polarizer is used to polarize the incident light so that the rotation effect may be controlled and employed to form a light modulating element. An electric field can be used to alter the degree of rotation and thereby alter the effective transmission or reflection from this type of modulator. Electrochromic modulators inject ions into (or out of) a material such that the material changes from being optically transparent to optically absorbing. A back reflector (e.g., a metal mirror) is placed behind this material so that light may either be reflected by this mirror back to the observer, or absorbed by the electrochromic layer. The mirror is perforated so that ions may pass through the mirror.